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Saxon Language (Medieval!AU)
The language spoken by Chief Derian and his people is a complicated and tongue-twisting one. Story-related words * EorlAnglo-Saxon meaning "chief"; the title of chieftain, Derian eorl – Derian Déorena eorl, Derian, chief of the Déoran. A title like cyning 'king' or eorl or ealdorman was usually placed after a proper name. So king Ӕlfréd was marked as Ӕlfréd cyning, and one Heardwine who was eorl would be marked as Heardwine eorl. When the title included the people that were ruled over, a proper designation would be Ӕbelréd Myrcena cyning, i.e. Ӕbelréd, king of the Mercians. * WyneAnglo-Saxon meaning "friend"; friendly or brotherly calling of a friend. * BanaAnglo-Saxon meaning "slayer"; a respectful title of someone doing a remarkable/heroic/grand killing of something specific, example wulfbana. * EarhAnglo-Saxon meaning "coward"; a demeaning and derisive calling of someone, meaning they have no courage and behaves like a woman, no true warrior. * DéorAnglo-Saxon meaning "brave; bold" Grammatical * Caelian Déorena, Caelian of the Déoran. * Déoran, the clan’s name plural * Déore, the clan’s name singularly Combination Most Anglo-Saxon names are originally a combination of two name elements. These elements are merely words that are traditionally used for name making. That means that not every Old English word can be used as a name element. These traditional elements can be an adjective as well as a noun. Thus ӕbel 'noble' and stán 'stone' are fit together as Ӕbelstán ('noble stone', i.e. 'gem'), and ӕlf ‘elf’ and réd 'rede, counsel' as Ӕlfréd ('elf-rede', i.e. 'counsels as an elf' or 'given counsel by elves'). Only elements starting with a consonant may be used as a second element. The two elements may neither alliterate nor rhyme, and if the second element is a noun, it must match the gender of the name bearer. This means that for example a name ending in –''gár'' 'spear', a masculine noun, is automatically masculine. If the second element is an adjective, tradition decides whether it makes for a masculine or a feminine name. So a name ending in –''heard'' 'hard, strong' is a masculine name. Short forms As a mark of affection a name can also be shortened, wherein any cluster of consonants may be simplified. An –''a'' will then generally be added for male names, an –''e'' for female names. Thus a short form of for instance Torhthelm would be Totta. Some of these short forms have become names in their own right, passed on from generation to generation. And so with historically attested Anglo-Saxon names like Offa it is hard to determine what their original, longer, proper form was. Another manner of making a short form is to simply leave out the second element, e.g. Wulfgár becomes Wulf. Bynames and epithets In addition to a proper name an Anglo-Saxon may bear a byname or epithet, to distinguish him from others of the same proper name. If an adjective is used, it must be inflected (–''a'' for men, –''e'' for women) and will usually be preceded by an article (se for men, séo for women). So if one particular Éadmund is éadig 'blessed', he is Éadmund se Éadiga. If one particular Ӕlfgifu is fӕger 'fair', she is Ӕlfgifu séo Fӕgere. If a noun is used an article is not necessary, e.g. one Odda who is a swica 'traitor' can simply be Odda Swica. Father's names Another way to further distinguish is to also use a father's name (a.k.a. patronym). There is more than one manner in which to do this. For instance, Ӕlfgár son of Ӕlfríc can be known as Ӕlfgár Ӕlfríces sunu, or with sunu 'son' left out, simply Ӕlfgár Ӕlfríces. Or he can use the suffix –''ing'', which in the broadest sense meaning 'belonging to', in this case Ӕlfgár Ӕlfrícing. For grammatical reasons things are different when the name of the father ends in a''. For instance, Gódwine son of Odda can be known as ''Gódwine Oddan sunu, or as Gódwine Oddan, or as Gódwine Odding. For a woman it is the same, only she is not sunu but dohtor 'daughter' to her father. – Derian Archibaldes sunu, Derian Archibaldes, Derian Archibalding. Clan names Many, if not most clan names are made with the same –''ing'' suffix, which as mentioned above means in the broadest sense 'belonging to'. A clan named after their founding father Eorl will be known plurally as the Eorlingas. Singularly, a member of that clan is an Eorling. But when his clan name is used together with his proper name, the clan name will be in the genitive plural, e.g. one Gléowine of the Eorlingas is properly marked as Gléowine Eorlinga. Another, famous example is the hero Béowulf of the Sculdingas ('the people of Scyld'), who in the manuscripts is referred to as Béowulf Scyldinga. But a clan or group of people can also be named after their dwelling. Here the same –''ing'' suffix can yet again be used, for instance the people of the beorh 'mountain' can be the Byrgingas (the suffix causing a change of pronunciation and spelling in the root word). Or with another, more obscure suffix, the people of the mearc 'mark, borderland' can be the Myrce (a plural form). (That is in fact whence Mercia got its name, for it is Latinised form of Myrce 'people of the mark'.) Or without any suffix, a clan could for instance be plurally known as the Déoran/Déore 'brave ones, bold ones'. One Hróðmӕr of the Déoran would be properly addressed as Hróðmӕr Déorena. – Derian Déorena, plurally Déoran, and singularly a member of the clan is a Déore. References Category:Definition